Tony Sandoval Wins the 1980 U.S. Men's Olympic Trials But Not a Trip to Moscow

The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trial was an event that thousands of Americans had been looking forward to--some with realistic hopes of going to Moscow, but many more with no greater aspiration than to compete in the Trial itself. For the elite runners, this would be the culmination of four years of training; and when the hard reality of the government's Olympic boycott began to intrude on the runners' dreams last winter, there was no thought of canceling the trial. Only a few of the top runners elected to stay home--primarily those who had already had the experience of being Olympians, and who perhaps had the most reason to feel a sense of loss. Bill Rodgers, Don Kardong, and Garry Bjorklund were conspicuously absent; but on the morning of May 24, 178 of the 222 American men who had met the qualifying standard of 2:21:54 were in Buffalo, ready to run.

Summer had crept into Buffalo, bringing sultry conditions the final few days before the race. The heat and humidity seemed likely to give an advantage to hot-weather runners such as Ron Tabb of Houston and Benji Durden of Atlanta (who had trained in full sweats in the Georgia heat.) But the betting favorite--and maybe the sentimental favorite as well--had to be Tony Sandoval of Athletics West, the 5'8: 115 pound runner who had wound up a heartbreaking fourth in the 1976 Olympic Trial after losing out in the final miles to his close friend and running mate, Don Kardong. Sandoval and his Athletics West teammate Jeff Wells had tied for first in last fall's Nike OTC marathon in 2:10:20--the fastest qualifying times in the field. Frank Shorter, who had steadfastly said he would run here despite the boycott, was somewhat of an enigma. Although his qualifying time of 2:16:16 was only the 37th fastest in the field, he had recently clocked an impressive 28:50 for 10 kilometers.

On race day, the sun remained conveniently behind a haze, keeping the temperature down. When the gun went off, unheralded Gary Fanelli of Philadelphia shot out to a 40-yard lead.

Over the opening miles, the better-known runners ignored Fanelli, letting him forge the pace alone. He built his lead steadily until 11 miles where it reached 150 yards. The large pack pursuing him along the birch-lined Niagara Parkway included Wells, Sandoval, Tabb, Durden, Randy Thomas of Boston, and unknowns Terry Heath of Idaho and Kyle Hefner of Dallas. The strongly striding Fanelli maintained his lead just past the midpoint, 1:04:39, where he yelled "a blister on my left foot!" and began to slow. The pack soon absorbed him, then left him behind in the next three miles (he would hang on for a 22nd place 2:16:48.)

Although the humidity remained thick, an unexpectedly cool, gentle headwind blew in off the still winter-cooled Niagara River. Over the next several miles, Thomas, Tabb, and Heath, who had placed last in the 1976 trial) traded off the lead, but no one wanted to try to break the race open quite yet. Sandoval, Hefner and Wells remained in the midst of the pack, patiently striding along. Just past 19 miles, Durden shot an angry glance at a hovering helicopter, then shot into the lead. The bearded Atlantan, who had placed sixth at Boston only five weeks earlier in 2:17:58, vigorously pumped his arms as he lengthened his advantage to 75 yards with a series of sub-five-minute miles between 20 and 22 miles. Meanwhile, the pack had dwindled to two--Sandoval and Hefner--both of whom appeared quite content to run behind Durden for the moment. At 22 miles, however, Sandoval--who seemed to be running effortlessly and carefree to this point--shifted up a gear and appeared to be working for the first time all day. Maintaining the same controlled style but at an obviously faster pace, he ate up Durden's lead with a single mile in around 4:40. By 23 miles, after taking the lead, he was able to downshift into his easy form again, while continuing to pull away.

A large soundsystem at the finish blared out the lyrics of a popular song: "This is it, Make no mistake about it" as Sandoval, grinning from ear to ear, closed out with a 2:10:18. Durden followed in 2:10:40, with Hefner third in 2:10:54. All three times were personal bests. "That kind of race gets you tired," effused the soft-spoken Sandoval, with characteristic understatement. Ironically, the victorious run put Sandoval in a unique and in some ways unenviable position. With his fourth place in 1976 and his win here, he had compiled the best composite performance of any American, Shorter and Rodgers included, in the last two Olympic years--yet has been denied any chance to compete in the Olympics. "I'm not worried about that," he said, when asked about Moscow. A look of acceptance came over his face. "I thought about 1976," he continued, "but I'm a little bit better." One had to wonder if Bill Rodgers could have beaten the youthful-looking Sandoval on this day.

In a race where most of the glory belonged to the three men in front, many others ran well. Fifty-six runners broke 2:20, making this the fastest field in history--eclipsing the perfect-condition Boston of 1978, when 54 bettered that mark.

Instead of a trip to Moscow, the top three earned a trip to the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan.

(This article was excerpted from an article that appeared in the August, 1980 Running Times)

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